South Seas Mandate
After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Japanese forces pounced on the Marshall Islands (October 3),WORLD STATESMEN — Marshall Islands Caroline Islands (October 7),WORLD STATESMEN — Micronesia and Northern Marianas Islands (October 14),WORLD STATESMEN — Northern Marianas Islands in a brief and bloodless conquest, and had completely integrated the colonies into its sphere within a mere three months.http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/micronesia-economic-report/chap2.pdf The Japanese presence in Micronesia was confirmed de facto in 1919 when it was promised a Class C South Seas Mandate by the League of Nations,Ibid. and de jure (as a mandate) on December 17, 1920.WORLD STATESMEN — Palau Economy Japanese traders have had a presence in Micronesia as early as the 1890s, and irked the Germans by selling guns and spirits to the indigenous population in spite of a German ban imposed on the sale or distribution of such items.Ibid. This defiance would later cease to be tolerated, and so Japanese private companies moved in to fill the void and rivaled Germany evenly for an economic monopoly on the islands.Ibid. Japan succeeded in creating an autarkic colony, though the indigenous population had little to no role in most of this cultivation, often at the expense of natural flora.Ibid. Mandate structure The indigenous populations of Class C Mandates were awarded the same protections as those in Class B Mandates,http://www.visit-fsm.org/visitors/history.html though were unique in the sense that due to the territories' sparse population, their de facto absorption into the administering state was implicitly encouraged by the League.Dugard, John. The South West Africa/Namibia dispute: documents and scholarly writings on the controversy between South Africa and the United Nations. Berkley: California University Press, 1973. p. 66 As Japan threatened towithdraw from the League of Nations after its invasion of Manchuria was censured, the League became increasingly perturbed by what the subsequent status of the mandate would be were Japan to withdraw. Some German statesmen demanded that they would revert to German control, while American officials stressed their country would not tolerate any potential threats to their Pacific territories.Williams, E. T. Japan's Mandate in the Pacific. The American Journal of International Law. Vol. 27, No. 3 American Society of International Law, 1933. pp. 428-439 Japan would rebuff this assumption, and annexed the mandate outright a few years later.http://www.jstor.org/pss/2189972 Immigration Japanese officials propagated immigration to the Micronesian mandate, and some 100,000 Japanese nationals had emigrated from the mainland. As a result, 71.43% of the population were Japanese, whereas only 28.57% were indigenous Micronesians.http://www.visit-fsm.org/visitors/history.html Religion :Further reading: Shinto in Micronesia In the 1930s, amongst the indigenous population, 78% were adherents of Protestant or Roman Catholic Christianity.'Howe, K. R., Robert C. Kiste, Brij V. Lal. ''Tides of history: the Pacific Islands in the twentieth century. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 98-100 The remainder were either animist or had converted to Buddhism or Shinto. Buddhism proved to be much more popular amongst Micronesians than Shinto. Shinto missions were established much later than their Buddhist counterparts, and Shinto officials were often deemed to be elitist by the native Palauans, hence their lesser success.https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9234/8883 In the administrative unit of '''Palau, some 600 ethnic Palauans converted to Buddhism, while an additional 120 embraced Shinto.https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9234/8883 Several thousand Koreans converted to Tenrikyo.Ibid. References Category:Mandates of Japan Category:Japanese incursions in Micronesia Category:Occupations by Japan during World War I